ISSUE FOCUS 28 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2024 Prioritizing high-quality nutrition in calves offers far-reaching benefits beyond their early growth. Through innovative research, the HoloRuminant project emphasises how early dietary interventions can improve a calf’s health, immune system, and productivity throughout its life. THE IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN EARLY CALF DEVELOPMENT Providing calves with a well-balanced and high-quality diet is important, not only for their immediate health, as they are starting to build their immune system, but also for their long-term growth and productivity. A calf’s diet can have an impact on its immune system, making it more resilient and robust against diseases or stress that can, for example, be induced during transportation. One of the objectives of the EU-funded project, HoloRuminant, is to demonstrate the long-lasting impacts of early-life nutritional interventions and how these decisions affect ruminants' productivity and health far beyond their calfhood. HOW MICROBES POWER RUMEN DEVELOPMENT During early development, a calf’s diet supports the development of the rumen—the stomach chamEARLY LIFE NUTRITION: ENSURING CALF GROWTH AND FUTURE RESILIENCE By Ebba Eriksson and Geena Cartick, EFFAB (European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders) & Phil Pope, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) & Eva Romera Recio, Eva Ramos Morales, David Yanez Ruiz, CSIC (Spanish National Research Council)
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